Christian extremists go nuts

The global warming debate divides evangelicals

Untitled Document
Just when you hoped that extremist Christian
political leaders might have learned a lesson from November’s
elections, here they come again — nuttier than a pecan forest. What’s got them jumping out of their shells is
all the fuss about global warming. In particular, they’re upset that
so many evangelical ministers and churches have become involved in this
crucial environmental issue. The evangelical activists see global warming
as a violation of the Biblical injunction to provide good stewardship of
God’s green earth, and they are joining with scientists and others to
stop the industrial forces causing the earth to warm. “Creation
Care,” they call it. But, whoa, this Gospel-inspired effort does not suit
the agenda of such Christian right-wing political operatives as James
Dobson, Gary Bauer, Tony Perkins, and Paul Weyrich. So they sent a letter
to the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 30 million
churchgoers, demanding that it hush up. Excuse me, but who in the name of Jesus are these
guys to be making demands on the ministers and churches? All admit that
their groups are not members of the evangelical association, and none of
the four is even an ordained minister — they’re heads of
political operations aligned with Republican Party. These partisans have been leaders in trying to whip
up Christian froth around the bogus gay-marriage issue, using it to produce
votes for George W. and the GOP. Now that evangelicals are moving beyond
that single-issue definition of their movement, the politicos are panicked
that their own influence is waning. In their letter, they’re reduced
to whining that evangelicals are siding with lefties and pushing issues
that “draw warm and fuzzies from liberal crusaders.”What a bunch of goobers! They’re separating
themselves from their own base, from the American mainstream, and from
reality. Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator,
columnist, and author.